(CN) Cat lovers stage dramatic rescue

February 13, 2007

South China Morning Post

Tuesday, February 13, 2007

Volunteers break into Tianjin shop to rescue animals

by NG TZE-WEI

Up to 30 cats were crammed into some of the cages. Photo: " I Cat Home "

A group of cat lovers seized about 400 felines from a Tianjin

wholesale market to prevent them from being sold for their fur and

meat.

Volunteers from Tianjin's " I Cat Home " and Beijing's China Small

Animals' Protection Association broke into the shop on Saturday

afternoon to rescue the animals and became involved in a fight with

police, the Beijing News reported yesterday. The cats were

transported to Beijing on Sunday.

The newspaper said the volunteers might be sued by the cat vendors

for compensation and prosecuted for attacking police officers.

But the rescue mission's organiser, Wang Yue , of " I Cat Home " , said

that only the Tianjin group took part in the mission and they did not

attack police.

Ms Wang said one volunteer was injured by police and was still in

hospital. She said the group first learned late last month that a

shop in the wholesale market was keeping more than 400 cats in small

cages, but the police and government departments said there was

nothing they could do about it.

Xiao Xue , another group member, said the carcasses of dead cats were

seen dumped next to the shop last month and the cats rescued on

Saturday appeared to be another batch.

A Tianjin reporter told the group that some angry local residents had

broken down the shop's door on Saturday to retrieve lost pets they

suspected had been stolen by the vendors.

" By rescuing the cats we broke the law. However, we cannot pursue

these cat thieves under the law because we cannot catch them in the

act, " Ms Wang said.

She hoped the association, which agreed to keep the cats in Beijing

until homes were found for them, would be able to help them with any

legal problems arising from the seizure.

She appealed to people to adopt the cats.

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